Troon vintner, woman are accused of in-flight sex acts

Saturday

Aug 10, 2013 at 12:01 AMAug 10, 2013 at 2:55 AM

Federal investigators accuse the owner of Troon Vineyard with engaging in repeated sex acts with a woman while they sat together in airline seats in front of aghast fellow passengers on a June flight from Medford to Las Vegas.

By MARK FREEMAN

Federal investigators accuse the owner of Troon Vineyard with engaging in repeated sex acts with a woman while they sat together in airline seats in front of aghast fellow passengers on a June flight from Medford to Las Vegas.

A criminal complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Nevada identifies Grants Pass vintner Christopher John Martin, 44, as exposing his genitals and twice joining a woman identified as Jessica Stroble in oral sex and other acts despite warnings from Allegiant flight attendants.

One of the passengers complained to an attendant that "this is not the sex education I wanted to give my teenage sons," according to the criminal complaint written by an FBI special agent in Nevada.

Erika Bishop, who is Troon's marketing and events director, declined to comment on the case Friday afternoon.

Telephone calls to Martin's cellphone went directly to voice mail Friday and were not returned.

The pair were on Allegiant Flight 557 on June 21 and were met by police at the airport and detained, the complaint states.

They are each accused of one count of lewd, indecent and obscene acts on an airplane, a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine, according to the complaint. No other federal documents, including any court dates, were listed in the federal file.

Passengers on the plane complained that Stroble was performing oral sex on an exposed Martin as the plane was taking off, with one passenger telling police that Martin "was in his own world" at the time, the affidavit states.

They were asked to stop by an attendant and did so during the drink and snack service, but later repeated the acts before landing, the affidavit states.

Oral sex acts on a commercial airline flight violate federal law.

Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470, or email at mfreeman@mailtribune.com.